South African Mirages and Cuban MiG-21s dogfighting over Cuito
Cuanavale, the largest tank battle on African soil since El Alamein;
Puma troopships shot out of the skies by Strela missiles and RPG-7
rockets; Alouette III gunships hovering menacingly above Koevoet
tracker-combat teams as they close in for the kill; Hercules and
Transall transports disgorging their loads of Parabats over Cassinga;
suicidal helicopter hot extractions of Recce operators deep in enemy
territory; and a lone Alouette pilot who disobeyed orders and under
intense ground fire evacuated a critically wounded soldier ... such is
the story of the South African Air Force, the SAAF, over the 23-year
period 1966-1989, the period of conflict that became known as the
'Border War'.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the SAAF was effectively South
Africa's first line of defense against Soviet expansionism in southern
Africa. That the Soviets, through their surrogates-the Cuban military,
Angola's FAPLA and Namibia's SWAPO-sought a communist regime in South
Africa is indisputable, as too was the SAAF's skill, quality,
determination and capability to defeat the best Soviet air defenses of
the time. This account covers all the major operations that the SAAF was
involved in, from Operation Blouwildebees, the opening salvo of the
conflict at Omgulumbashe, South West Africa in 1966 to the final
curtain, Operation Merlyn, the so-called April Fool's Day 'war' of 1989
when the SAAF and Koevoet, almost alone, frustrated SWAPO's last throw
of the dice with its illegal invasion of South West Africa.
In this account, highlighting such operations as Reindeer,
Bootlace/Uric, Sceptic, Protea, Daisy, Askari, Moduler, Hooper and
Packer, among many, as well as the ongoing methodological operations
like Lunar, Maanskyn, Donkermaan and Butterfly, Baxter examines and
brings to life the squadrons and aviators that fought in both
counterinsurgency and conventional warfare roles.
Besides an extensive selection of rare photographs, the book features a
comprehensive section on camouflage and markings and 6 pages of color
aircraft profiles and insignia by noted SAAF authority William Marshall,
making this title especially useful for modelers.
Peter Baxter is an author, amateur historian and African field, mountain
and heritage travel guide. Born in Kenya and educated in Zimbabwe, he
has lived and travelled over much of southern and central Africa. He has
guided in all the major mountain ranges south of the equator, helping
develop the concept of sustainable travel, and the touring of
battlefield and heritage sites in East Africa. Peter lives in Oregon,
USA, working on the marketing of African heritage travel as well as a
variety of book projects. His interests include British Imperial history
in Africa and the East Africa campaign of the First World War in
particular. His first book was Rhodesia: Last Outpost of the British
Empire; he has written several books in the Africa@War series, including
France in Centrafrique, Selous Scouts, Mau Mau and SAAF's Border War.
